The Little Myrtle Fairy
by Glamourcat
Summary: Z/G Pairing: A handsome prince finds his true love in the heart of a magical plant.


Title: The Little Myrtle Fairy  
  
Author: Glamourcat  
  
E-mail: Glamourcat@lycos.com  
  
Part: 1/1  
  
Warnings: m/m pairing and the grim realization that I may not stop writing these fairy tale stories.  
  
Disclaimer: The Slayers characters aren't mine. In fact they belong to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, Kadokawa Shoten, TV TOKYO, SOFTX and Marubeni  
  
Summary: A handsome prince finds his true love in the heart of a magical plant.  
  
Distribution: LN can have it, anyone else, just ask first.  
  
Notes: Look! It's a third fairy tale! I can't stop myself, they're all obscure old fairy tales and too funny to re-write!  
  
Eris was a good, kind woman who lived in a little cottage on the edge of the forest. She had lived alone for many years and her solitude weighed heavily upon her. In other words folks, she's gone a bit loopy.  
  
"If only I had a child to keep me company," she often used to sigh. "A little girl I could clone.I mean, teach to knit and cook. She could come into the garden with me, pick flowers to make bouquets, and we could sing songs together. My life would be so much happier, and the winters wouldn't seem so very long!"  
  
Like I said folks, she went a bit loopy. What mother/daughter relationship every sounded like that?  
  
One evening, while Eris was sitting by the side of the hearth thinking these sad thoughts, she suddenly had an idea. This being a novel event she marked the day on the calendar and then expanded on it.  
  
"What if I were to go to the enchanted wood to look for the fairy that the old folk still whisper about. The one who lives under that monstrously huge tree - the fairy Sylphiel. They say that she is compassionate and generous in her gifts."  
  
Eris set out along the path that led to the great tree. But how disappointed she was! The fairy Sylphiel was very incompetent and her magic powers were next to useless. She couldn't even cast a decent Flare Carrot. Nevertheless, she gave the startled woman a present of a pretty little plant in a pot.  
  
"Take good care of it," she told Eris. "It will bring happiness into your house."  
  
That very evening, Eris put the myrtle plant (of course it was a myrtle plant-where do you think the title of the story came from) on her windowsill. With careful watering, it grew stronger every day, but Eris was still alone.  
  
One day, the king's son happened to pass by. The king's son was handsome, strong, blond, and looked good in leather, but wasn't really the brightest match in the pack. Despite this, the strange plant intrigued him.  
  
"Where does that strange plant come from? I have never seen the like of it before. To tell the truth, I like it very much and if you would be so kind as to give it to me, I promise to take great care of it, and in return to pay you generously for it."  
  
Okay, so we all know the prince has a snowball's chance in hell of making a flowery speech like that, but work with me here, okay?  
  
Eris was poor, so very poor! She thought that the fairy's prediction was about to come true because at last fortune was smiling upon her. So she sold the plant. With a heavy heart, she watched the prince vanish in the distance, clutching the precious little plant under his cape.  
  
Soon afterwards, Eris, now a wealthy woman who could afford to have children, married a prosperous priest, who had a cloned child of his own. The fairy's prophecy had been fulfilled and Eris often thought with emotion and gratitude of the little plant.  
  
Meanwhile, the myrtle plant had a place of pride in the royal greenhouse. It grew taller and more beautiful with each day that went by.  
  
The prince and his courtiers came to see it very often and each time he appeared, the slender twigs bowed to him, the new leaves quivered and rustled.  
  
The young prince was surprised and sensing that some magic was at work here, he decided to install the plant on the terrace of his private apartments, so that he could take care of it himself. He didn't know why, but he was certain that there must be a reason for the magnetic pull of this plant. He spoke to it, watered it, and turned it in the sun so it could bask.  
  
One fine morning in May (why May? Cause I felt like it), the prince found a beautiful young chimera standing by the plant. The lavender of his hair, the pale blue of his delicate complexion, together with his natural grace and beauty captured the young man's heart in an instant.  
  
"Who are you, beautiful vision?" he asked with bated breath.  
  
"Zelgadis Graywords, Prince of the Myrtles (doesn't that sound so gay?)," the lovely stranger replied. "To save me from the wrath of a wicked priest, the fairy Sylphiel my godmother, made me very, very small and hid me for a long time in the middle of the plant. I heard in the gossip of the court before you moved me here that he'd married and has forgotten about me. And now, thanks to your tender care, I am now returned to my normal size. How can I ever thank you? Please remember *everything* is back to its normal size."  
  
"Why, by marrying me, beautiful Zelgadis Graywords!" Cried the delighted prince.  
  
As he was handsome, kind, brave and looked good in leather, Zelgadis eagerly accepted his proposal.  
  
Months went by, there was no cloud to mar the happiness of the newlyweds- mainly because a chibied Glamourcat kept a chibied Dianyx from intruding on them because of her sick habit of liking to watch.  
  
Then the wicked Trickster Priest declared war on the prince. He really didn't have a reason to, he was just bored because his business had been slow that season.  
  
The thought of leaving his sweet spouse distressed him greatly, but Zelgadis said to him,  
  
"Go my husband, your first duty is to safeguard your kingdom. To await your return in all safety, I shall return to my hiding place inside the plant. When you come back from battle, ring the little silver bell that I shall hang on the lowest twig. Then, and only then, shall I reappear."  
  
The prince knew how jealous the ladies of the courts were of his pretty bishounen. He knew many of them wished him ill, so he was relieved to see him disappear into the foliage. He entrusted the precious myrtle plant to a faithful servant, Zangulus.  
  
"You are to let no one come near the pot," he warned his best swordsman. "You will answer for it with your life."  
  
He left with an easy mind, spreading the rumor that his spouse had left to visit exotic coffee shops for the period of his absence.  
  
But two particularly malicious ladies-in-waiting had overheard the prince's conversation with his love. They immediately decided to take their revenge.  
  
The red head gave the swordsman a cup of drugged wine and as soon as he'd passed out the black haired maid sold him as a mail-order groom to some bimbo in a foreign country.  
  
After that the two wicked women savagely stamped the fragile plant to the ground. The rung the precious little bell and were delighted to see not even one broken branch quiver in response.  
  
When the prince returned victorious from war (mainly because the Trickster Priest got bored again and decided to pick on someone else) all he found on the deserted terrace were a few withered branches hung with dried leaves and a single lavender hair draped on a branch. The silver bell was tarnished.  
  
The young man wept as he rang and rang the little bell, but it was in vain: no answer came. Zelgadis Graywords was lost.  
  
The poor brokenhearted prince cloistered himself inside his castle, banishing all his courtiers and their wives. In the deserted palace, his footsteps echoed as he paced up and down the corridors. The shivering servants hurried to the kitchens as the only warmth left in the palace was by its fire!  
  
Finally one May morning, the prince roused himself from his melancholy and wanted to see his dear myrtle plant again. He went out to the terrace and to his surprise and joy he found the plant green and once again in full flower!  
  
Cautiously he rang the little bell. A shimmering mist floated down and when it cleared there stood Zelgadis, smiling at his husband!  
  
"My dearest husband," said the young man in his sweet melodious voice, "your faithfulness has been rewarded for this plant is the symbol of lovers who cannot be parted. We shall be happy together now and forever."  
  
The prince punished the ladies-in-waiting severely by indenturing them to a life of servitude to the Trickster Priest. This wisely guaranteed him an ally in the otherwise dangerous man. Now he had his own puppies.er.humans to play with!  
  
He ordered great festivities to celebrate the return of his beloved.  
  
For days on end, there was dancing in the castle, in the streets, and in the fields. And while the people of the kingdom rejoiced in their two princes, a simple priest's wife danced with her cloned children and in her heart, gratefully thanked "the little myrtle fairy."  
  
The End. 


End file.
